Subtext
by shimmeryshine
Summary: She can't escape it, she doesn't even know if she wants to, but she does know for sure that it's always been there and probably always will be there.


**A/N: **This takes place some time in season 4, I've just tweaked the Gilmore world a little. Luke is still dating Nicole at this point, but Lorelai's not dating Jason. This will be a 2 parter, the next part to follow shortly. As always, reviews are greatly appriciated :)

And thanks to **Colleen** for the beta!

**Subtext, Part 1:**

Subtext is a devious little thing. It runs charged with electricity under every single conversation, every single uttered word. It's there now as she sits on a stool at the counter she's eaten at thousands of times, and it's there when he pushes her plate to her, letting their fingers touch for only a second, it remains. She can't escape it, she doesn't even know if she wants to, but she does know for sure that it's always been there and probably always will be there. She shoots him a look that he doesn't catch, and the rebounded subtext falls to the floor unseen, but she knows in her head that she's playing along, and even if he didn't catch that teasing look he'll catch the next one. There is _always_ a next one.

She pops a french fry in her mouth and tries to figure out why she's dwelling over Luke. It's not like he hasn't been standing there for the better part of her life in Stars Hollow in exactly the same way. It's not like it's different this time, but today she just can't seem to get him out of her head. The feel of his hand on hers, the look in his eye the second he sees that it's her walking through the jingling door stay with her today and she can't shake the feeling that she's about to do something exciting. Luke always excites her. She doesn't know when it started or why exactly (or at least she won't often let herself think of why…), but when she's around him, close to him, her heart rate picks up and she can feel her cheeks flushing. Sometimes she'll even bump into him just for the rush, just for the little jolt she feels at the contact. It's almost like a game they play, kind of like a dirty version of tag, because really they are both adults who don't walk around flirting with someone for eight years, it's a little ridiculous. Although that's exactly what they've been doing practically the entire time they've known each other.

Deep down it's like they know they belong with each other, they fit together so well it's scary sometimes, but they won't admit it. Like right now, Lorelai has just picked up the bun of her burger and noticed that Luke forgot the extra pickles. Before her mouth has even opened a crack another small plate plops down in front of her with a pile of pickles right in the middle. He's gone again before she can look up to say thank you, but she knows it doesn't need to be said anyway.

The diner has been swamped with people since well before Lorelai came in for her dinner, so she doesn't look behind her when the bell jingles for the thousandth time. She doesn't glace back until she hears the voice she's come to hate, it's like nails on the chalkboard of her ears. But she still doesn't turn around because she knows what she'll see if she does, and frankly, she doesn't want the image of Nicole burned in her brain for the rest of the night. So she just munches on her burger quietly until Nicole comes and sits down right next to her. _Dammit_. Lorelai's got no hope now…

There is one thing that's keeping her mood from completely going to hell though; Luke still hasn't noticed that Nicole has come in. He apparently hadn't heard her quick hello to Taylor as she walked through the door, and he was still serving customers on the other side of the diner. Nicole smiled politely at Lorelai as she sat herself down on the wooden stool, and Lorelai only smiled back because Luke noticed _her_ every single time she walked through the door before she could even sit down. _Take that Nicole_ she thought to herself, still smiling smugly.

About a minute or so later Luke finally realized that Nicole was sitting at the counter and he came up and gave her a peck on the cheek really quickly before stealing back behind the counter to frantically grab for plates. "How long have you been here?" he shouted over the dinner rush.

Nicole tried to look flippant, which Lorelai noticed looked a lot like any normal person's sour face. "Oh you know, just a minute."

_Or five…_

Luke hardly paid attention to her response anyway. Lorelai took a giant bite out of her burger as Nicole flipped through the salad page of the menu, making some 'hmm' sounds every few seconds. Lorelai rolled her eyes to herself wondering why Nicole even tried coming there for dinner. It obviously wasn't her kind of place. She seemed to settle on a choice though, because she set her menu back down, tapping it against the counter waiting for Luke to come ask her what she wanted. He's not paying attention to her again though, and Lorelai can tell that she's getting a little annoyed.

Luke heads back in their direction a few moments later, just as Lorelai realizes that her coffee cup has mysteriously emptied itself. Well not so mysteriously, but kind of annoyingly. _Luke should invest in some kind of automatic refilling machine_ she finds herself thinking idly as she watches him grab the coffee pot on his way and fill up her cup without being asked, or even checking to see if it's empty. Nicole makes a kind of snorting sound as Luke completely passes by her without a word and starts refilling coffee cups all around the diner. She crosses her legs harshly as she sits poised, her back rigid. Now she's pissed. Lorelai turns her head and laughs; dinner and entertainment, what more could a girl ask for?

About five minutes later a large group of people leave the diner, making it considerably less crowded, and Luke finally comes back to the counter to get Nicole's order. She gives it to him sweetly, pretending that she's not mad. Her tone of voice gives it all away though, but Luke doesn't catch the underlying meaning. He's not paying enough attention to notice.

Tired of sitting so close to Nicole and her extremely negative attitude, Lorelai gets up to leave, tossing down some money on the counter. Luke looks up the second she starts walking to the door and she gives him a little wave, staring at him a second longer than she should have. Nicole catches the look and calls Luke's name twice before he takes his eyes off of Lorelai.

As she makes her way home, walking through the darkening streets of Stars Hollow, she can't help but wonder why she's so satisfied with herself. It's not like Luke is hers, it's not like she has any right to hate Nicole because…well she doesn't exactly have a good reasoning to why she hates Nicole, she just knows she does. This line of thought is quickly going to a place she doesn't want to think about too deeply so Lorelai instead switches to thinking about what movie she's going to watch when she gets home, but every choice seems boring. She's just feeling restless, but there isn't really anything for her to do. Sighing to herself and just trying to accept the fact that a lonely night flipping channels on the TV is her fate, Lorelai skips her way up the steps, letting herself in the unlocked door and swinging it shut behind her. Kicking her feet quickly one at a time, her flip flops go bumping across the floor, landing somewhere in the middle of the hallway as she continues on her way to the couch. Once there she plops down heavily, reaching for the remote as she settles her body into the cushions and her head against a pillow. Lorelai's finger presses down on the power button without having to look, but all that follows is a loud cracking sound coming from the television in front of her. She presses the button again, this time getting no response at all. "What the…"

Walking over to the TV, Lorelai raises her right arm to smack the side, hoping a little force will kick it in gear. It doesn't help. Getting frustrated that even her lonely night in front of the TV is going to be taken away, Lorelai throws the remote to the couch and smacks both sides at the same time; still nothing. She doesn't know what else to do so she gives it one last thump as hard as she can and the TV kind of wobbles for a second before teetering off to the side of its stand. Reacting quickly, Lorelai thrusts out her arm trying to catch it, but it comes sliding down into her grasp, stabbing into her arm and stomach as she holds it awkwardly, half suspended on the stand and the other half resting firmly against her body. "Ouch," she lets out softly as she tries to get some leverage to slide it back to where it came from, but it isn't moving an inch. Instead she tries moving backward so the entire television now has its weight resting in her arms as she waddles as quickly as possible over to her couch where she dumps the obscenely heavy box with a loud grunt and slides to the floor, leaning her sweaty head against the couch cushion. _Now what?_ she thinks, rubbing her hand against the red scratch mark on her forearm.

There was no way Lorelai was going to be able to lift that television back onto its table even if she tried, and it was still broken. Why would she make an effort for a broken TV in the first place? She couldn't think of a reason, so she stood up, brushed the dust off her shirt and grabbed one of the outdated magazines off her coffee table. She sat down on the couch next to the facedown television, trying to get comfortable in the small amount of space she had left herself, but finding it difficult. Her eyes scanned down an article she had read about thirty seven times about applying blue eye shadow without looking like your grandmother. When she tried to flip the page her elbow cracked into the corner of the TV causing Lorelai to curse in frustration and stomp her way off the left side of the couch to the right side. She plopped herself down in a huff, trying to concentrate on the article, but now her elbow and forearm were both throbbing and the right side of the couch seemed to have even less room than the left side.

She slammed the magazine cover shut and tossed it back onto the coffee table when it became apparent that it just wasn't working out, and she fixed her gaze on the dusty bit of television screen peeking out from between the couch cushions. "What did I ever do to you, Boxy?" she muttered under her breath.

Lorelai stood up in front of the couch, noticing the red numbers on her clock glowing 7:38pm. It was way too early for bed, but what was she going to do all night when the television was broken, her magazines were all out of date, and she couldn't even _sit_ on her couch? The light bulb clicked on in her head. _I'll just have to get my TV fixed. It's the only thing that makes sense._ Lorelai nodded to herself and grabbed for the portable phone, perching herself on the arm of the couch. She punched in the familiar number and sat waiting until his voice came over the line.

"Hello?" Lorelai could hear a woman's voice faintly in the background.

"Hey Luke, it's me. I kind of broke my TV and I was just wondering if you could come over…"


End file.
